The Burr Trail

As part of our route home from our big trip, we decided to drive a couple of our favorite roads in Southern Utah, Highway 24 through Capitol Reef National Park and Highway 12 through Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument.  We spent two nights in Torrey, Utah, so that we could drive one of our favorite backcountry roads in this area, the Burr Trail.  The Burr trail is an old route that goes from Bullfrog to Boulder in southern Utah.  We picked up the Burr Trail just south of Capitol Reef NP at the foot of the Waterpocket Fold.  The Waterpocket Fold is a part of a large geologic structure that runs down the middle of Utah, called the San Raphael Swell.

Panorama of the Waterpocket Fold from below

A closer view

The road climbs up the middle of this picture.

Looking down from near the top

A couple views from the top of the Waterpocket Fold

A handy lunch spot out of the sun

Does anyone else see the head of the dragon laying along the ridgetop?

To return to Torrey from the end of the Burr Trail in Boulder, we had to drive over the 9,400 ft. summit on Boulder Mountain.  At a viewpoint near the summit, we found a variety of wildflowers in bloom.